Pride of Reading nomination for Wokingham teenager Naomi Koefman

Sixteen-year-old Naomi Koefman has been nominated for the Pride of Reading Young Person of the Year Award

A teenager from Wokingham who was diagnosed with a brain tumour has been nominated for the Young Person of the Year in the Pride of Reading Awards.

Naomi Koefman, 16, who lives in Camelia Way, was diagnosed with the condition when she was six years old and has struggled with epilepsy in recent years, but has never let her condition prevent her from living a full and active life.

The schoolgirl, who is currently taking her GCSEs at Ranelagh School in Bracknell, has been injecting her medication herself since she was six, and recently held a cake sale to raise money for Epilepsy Action, raising more than £500 for the charity.

Naomi’s proud mum, Karen, 44, said she had no idea that friend Emma Major had nominated Naomi.

Mrs Koefman said: “I was shocked when I first heard, but I can see why she has been nominated, she’s definitely been through a lot, more than most 16-year-olds.

“As a parent it is hard to see your child go through that, and it seemed that every time Naomi overcame one struggle she would have something else to deal with, but she never complains. Naomi is very hard-working, in fact her teachers once told me that she works too hard. Her condition makes it difficult to recall information and get her thoughts down on to paper, but she’s doing really well in her exams and wants to go on to study childcare.

“She is obviously very different from her friends, but she doesn’t let that stop her, she still goes out and socialises, but she gets tired easily and there’s the constant worry that she will have another seizure.

“Naomi manages her condition herself, she’s been self-injecting since she was six, it’s just become second nature for her.”

Naomi said: “I was really surprised to hear that I had been nominated, but I just want to say thank you to Emma and to everyone who has helped and supported me.”